The present invention relates to a drive control method for a multi-disk player in which a plurality of disks housed in a magazine are extracted from the magazine one by one for playing.
A multi-disk player in which a plurality of compact disks are housed in a magazine and the disks are sequentially extracted and played has been proposed, manufactured, and placed on the market by the present applicant. The structure of this multi-disk player is described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 219603/85 filed by the present application.
FIG. 1 shows the basic construction of the multi-disk player. Shown at 1 in FIG. 1 is a magazine in which six disks 3 are housed. Six trays 2 are fitted in the magazine 1 in such a manner that the trays can be moved into and out of the magazine. When the disks 3 are housed in the magazine 1, the disks are engaged in the trays 2. Each tray 2 is pulled out of the magazine 1 by a tray moving mechanism 4 so that the disk 3 in the extracted tray is aligned with the spindle of a motor 5. The spindle then clamps the disk and rotates the disk while being servo-controlled so that a tune recorded on the disk can be reproduced through an optical pickup (not shown). After the disk 3 has finished playing, the disk is put back into the tray 2 and the tray is housed back in the magazine 1 by operation of the tray moving mechanism 4. Shown at 6, 7 and 8 in FIG. 1 are, respectively, a motor for driving the tray moving mechanism 4, a motor drive circuit for driving the motor 6, and a controller which sends control signals to the motor drive circuit 7. A home position detecting switch 9 for generating an output when the tray 2 is housed in the magazine and a clamped position detecting switch 10 for generating an output when the disk is clamped by the spindle motor 5 are connected to the controller 8.
However, when the disk 3 is to be returned to the magazine 1 after playing is completed, the disk may sometimes collide against a part of the magazine, making it impossible to operate the tray moving mechanism 4. Such an event may occur, for example, due to tilting of the player or to an external shock. If it is impossible to operate the tray moving mechanism 4, there is a problem in that the disk cannot be changed for another, and manual intervention is required to free the mechanism.